A drought-relief charity has apologised for sending bad hay to a western Queensland property, which is believed to have caused the deaths of more than 30 sheep.

Tanya Dawson, of Upshot Station, west of Longreach, says 35 of her sheep died after eating bales of sorghum hay donated by the Buy a Bale charity.

Ms Dawson says the hay was black and smelly when feeding out but she hoped it would be okay.

"Certainly everyone means well and I don't want to take anything away from people who have donated because they do mean well and we are certainly grateful for the hay but it is just a terrible thing that has happened, it is just hard to shoot sheep you thought you were feeding."

Buy a Bale says they've recalled the affected bales. The charity says it's the first problem they've had with thousands of donated bales and they will compensate the Dawsons for their losses.

A dry and hot September and October has worsened the threat of bushfire in South Australia and Tasmania

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre's updated forecast has increased areas of both states now facing above average potential for fire.

Tasmania's Chief Fire Officer Gavin Freeman says it's likely his state may need back up from other regions.

"If it eventuates as it is forecast we will be in for several months, potentially of fire fighting operations. That means we have to turn our mind to how we will manage fatigue of our people and whether we have to sharpen our arrangements interstate."

The Federal Government has set out how it wants its Northern Australia development loans to work, and is calling for public comment.

The Commonwealth's 5-billion-dollar development loans program was part of the Northern Australia White Paper.

The government is proposing that major projects be eligible if they are of public benefit, have a capital cost of at least $100 million, and require loans of at least $50 million.

Meanwhile, the group behind a major food project in the Northern Territory says both private and public investment is needed to develop the north.

Chris Mitchell, the executive director of the Seafarms Group, which has plans to build a huge prawn farm at remote Legune Station, says public spending is needed for infrastructure like roads.

"Private investors can bring a lot of capital to the table but there are cases when the government ought to and can sensibly step in to make projects occur and happen, it's just something that needs to be done for Australia, for the 21st century, for the benefit of the whole country."

Sales figures show Australian sheep producers have increased their use of pain relief for mulesed lambs.

The developer of the anaesthetic Tri-Solfen, which is currently the only pain relief available for the procedure, said sales increased by 10 per cent in 2014, with 58 per cent of lambs treated after being mulesed.

There's been pressure on the industry to make pain relief compulsory for mulesing, which is the surgery to cut away skin from the bottom of a lamb to prevent fly strike.

Alan Giffard, of Animal Ethics, which developed Tri-Solfen, says the highest uptake of pain relief was in South Australia where 81 per cent of all lambs were treated, compared to Queensland with just 16 per cent.

People want to do the right thing by their lambs, and this is a good news story about what the industry is doing.

The Australian apple industry has lost a fight to maintain control of Pink Lady apple exports from Chile to North America.

Pink Lady apples were developed in Western Australia in the 1970's with rights to the fruit owned by the Australian industry.

But the Supreme Court of Victoria has ruled in favour of Pink Lady America over Apple and Pear Australia Limited in a case over who has the right to control exports between major fruit growing region Chile and North America.

Justice Clyde Croft ruled the actions of both parties convinced him that an agreement to hand control to the American company had been in place.

"I'm satisfied that the parties did in fact reach an agreement in the form pleaded by Pink Lady America."

"Specifically I'm satisfied the parties did exercise an option on option deed with the effect that Pink Lady America would assign ownership to APAL of its Chilean Pink Lady Trademarks in exchange for a license back from APAL enabling Pink Lady America to control the pink lady trade between Chile and North America."

Two thirds of the guns stolen in Victoria last year were taken from farms -- and the state's police force is advising farmers to store their guns with a licensed gun owner, or shop, when they go on holidays to avoid theft.

Superintendent Craig Gillard, says the stolen guns are finding their way into organised crime.

"We've got our police pulling over vehicles every single day and finding long arms, so rifles, stolen from rural properties, cut down to shortened firearms so that criminals can secrete them either in their car or on their body and ply their drug trade or whatever trade they're doing with them."

"It's really alarming and it's a significant risk not only to our police members, but to our community."

We are pushing roads all through the station so we can put more cattle yards in and portable yards. Mustering was a bit hard this year because there was just no access so it took a long time but we'll get there, give us 12 months and you won't recognise the place.